Paul Mason, the economics editor of Newsnight, has written in his new book
that the August riots were part of a 'global revolution'.

In what will doubtless be seen as further evidence of a Left-wing agenda at the BBC, Paul Mason, the economics editor of Newsnight, posits the case in a new book that the summer riots were part of a “global revolution”.

The publishing house Verso gives a taste of the line that Mason takes in Why It’s Kicking Off Everywhere: The New Global Revolutions in its latest catalogue.

Beneath a picture of the 144-year-old furniture store House of Reeves ablaze in Croydon during the riots in August, Mason is quoted as saying: “What has started with students in Millbank now erupts across the poverty-stricken streets of London: the network defeats the hierarchy; the political elite flounders, bereft of explanations.”

An explanation for the summer riots was actually given after the official inquiry into them by Heather Rabbatts — a member of the inquiry team, who is hardly a Right-winger — when she stated: “These were not riots that were political. These were particularly characterised by opportunist looting and very much targeted at brands.”

Mason, whose previous books include Live Working or Die Fighting, declined to comment when I telephoned him. He has, however, made little secret of where he stood in the past.

During last year’s strike at the BBC, he brandished a placard which read: “Stop the Pensions Robbery.” A former musician, he was once a lecturer at Loughborough University, where he reportedly penned the music to With the Sun on My Back, a play about the miners’ strike.